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CLIVAR I5 Weekly Science Report 0122 March 2009R/V Roger Revelle from Jim Swift, SIO, Chief Scientist and Greg Johnson, NOAA/PMEL, Co-Chief Scientist 1300 Z (1500 local); 22°C (72°F); Winds 15 knots from NE The R/V Roger Revelle "I5" cruise for the NSF- and NOAA-funded US Global Ocean Carbon and Repeat Hydrography program will carry out a transect of boundary-to-boundary full-depth CTDO/LADCP/hydrographic/carbon/tracer stations along ca. 32°S from South Africa to Australia, 20 March - 15 May 2009. All 34 in the science team made it to the ship in Cape Town without undue difficulty. The ship had arrived slightly ahead of schedule after a transit from South America. Tons of scientific equipment and lab supplies were shipped in advance from California, Washington, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, and Florida, much of it in three 20-foot lab vans and two 20-foot shipping containers. Over four days we unloaded the cargo, installed the lab vans on the ship, outfitted the ship's four main labs, and installed our deck equipment. Each measurement group is experienced and got its work done well. Only one item of scientific equipment never arrived: a new version of the lowered ADCP that measures currents from our water sampler as we lower and raise it. We installed the older spare model, and hope it works the entire cruise. The ship also took on tons of food - perhaps the most it has ever carried. From the very start we felt welcome and very well supported on board the ship. We are fortunate to sail with such experienced officers and crew, many of whom have sailed on previous cruises for our program. And Jay and Mark, our cooks, have already made it clear that our waist-lines are in trouble. All hands thoroughly enjoyed Cape Town. Scripps arranged docking in the main waterfront tourist area, which was also just a short walk (by day) or cab ride (at night) to the city center. We had time for dinners at some of Cape Town's excellent restaurants, visits to busy pubs, and many of us enjoyed the excellent South African wines. Some toured the Cape Town region, went up Table Mountain (Cape Town's dramatic backdrop), or toured Robben Island (where South Africa kept some of its political prisoners up through 1991). We left port ca. 10:00 pm local time Friday, March 20th, after 6-hour delay to complete fueling (some bad fuel was found in the initial delivery that day). The southern tip of Africa is notorious for high seas, but although some choppy ship roll began as soon as we left the harbor, by morning the seas were easier. The weather remains excellent. We are now steaming northeast towards our first station, staying over the continental shelf to avoid the strong southward Agulhas Current over the shelf break. We are in a designated northbound shipping lane from time to time, as evidenced by cargo ships and empty tankers. We've successfully carried our training and familiarization casts. Everything is working well. The full transect has been carried out twice before, in 1987 (36 days, 108 stations) and 2002 (46 days, 133 stations plus 13 on a different transect), and in 1995 the east and west portions were done well. But the remote central portion of the 32°S Indian Ocean transect has not yet been measured to the same standard we have measured the other oceans. Thus we have planned a very long cruise (with no mid-cruise port stop): 57 days and 194 stations. It looks as if we will reach the start of our 32°S transect early Tuesday morning local time. All is well. |
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